Delayed-action switch



April 1948. I G. w. ANDERSON 2,439,069

DELAYED-ACTION SWITCH Filed April 2, 1945 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N V EN TOR. 620w: W. A-aseso- ATTORNEY April 1948. G. w. ANDERSON 2,439,069

DELAYED-ACTION SWITCH Filed April 2, 1945 2 sheets -sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

G'sarc: W. Azvaeesow w 9.1km

ATTORNEY ings l2 and i3.

Patented Apr. 6, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims. l

My invention relates to a delayed-action switch, which is useful in breaking an electric circuit at a predetermined period following the manual operation of the switch. An object of the invention is to be able to adjust such period by simple, effective means.

Another object of the invention is to provide thermostatic means for breaking the circuit, and to provide controllable heating means for the thermostat. A further object of the invention is to provide a shunt circuit for such heating means, in combination with a regulable resistance means in the main circuit.

My invention also has for its objects provide such means that are positive in operation, convenientin use, easily installed in a working posl tion and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of gen eral superiority and serviceahility.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description. However, the drawings merely show and the following description merely describes one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters des= ignate similar parts in the several views.

Fig. l is a side elevational view of an embodia merit of the foregoing objects, with a side wall of the housing r moved, and showing the switch in its first position. when turned an on position.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to l, but showing the operative mechanism in an on position.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a broken section taken on the line klof Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a broken section taken on the line ii-ii of Fig. 3, which is looking in the opposite direction from Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2, but showing the mechanism in permanently oil position.

Fig. "I is a broken, enlarged section taken on the line 1-! of Fig. 3.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the reference number 9 generally designates a housing mounted upon a face plate in that has open- A lever I 4 of a toggle reciprocates in the opening l3, while screws (not shown) may be applied in the openings l2 for fastening till ranged around bimetallic strip means outer end oi the bimetallic strip means til has the present device in the desired position, such as in a slot ima wall. A stirrup-shaped contact element 15 is pivotally mounted on pins it in the side walls ll and ii of the housing 9, as perhaps best shown in Fig. l. The contact element it has a knob it on its cross member it for engaging a spring 28. The opposite end of the spring to is pivotally connected with an arm ti on the lever it. Stop means 22 and limit swinging movement of the contact element it in opposite directions. By this arrangement, the lever moves the spring it past dead center in a given direction and thereby thrusts the contact element it in the other direction.

Contact strips are disposed on the opposite walls ll and El along which strips the contact element l5 slides. 0n the wall 2?! (as probably best shown in Fig. 4) are mounted contact strips 24 and The strip 25 carries the stop 23. Binding post 26 and screw 23 are respectively provided for the contact strips and 2. On the wall is a strip 253 that has a curved portion 3% along which the contact element slides. A binding Dost is provided for the strip 29.

A conductive strip 32 connects the binding post 28 with a flexible wire which in turn is connected with a lever The lever ti l is pivoted at 35 and carries a spring finger 36 disposed to be engaged by the contact element it when the latter is in the on position shown in Fig. 2.

A coil spring ill tends to urge the lever i l to the OE position shown in Fig. 6.

An electric coil heating element no on is ar- 9, cup it. in the oil position, shown in Fig. l, which is the initial off position, the outer end of the bar 3 engages the end of the bimetallic means 39. In the on position, as shown in Fig. 2, the contact element has pushed the bar 3d beyond the end of the bimetallic means 3%, by means of the spring linger 3G, in order to cock or set the bar 3H for the next turning off operation.

Wires 4| and 42 connect the coil 38 in the electric circuit hereinafter more fully described. The wire 4! connects the coil with the bimetallic means 39, while the wire 42 connects the coil with a copper plate 43- that extends from side to side and from end to end of the housing.

A nut 44 travels along a threaded bolt #5 when the bolt is turned by means of a screw head 46 exposed outside the housing. The nut 44 not only has a fiat side that slides along the side of the plate 43, but it also slides along in engagement with a substantially flat resistance coil 41 that is wound around and supported by a relatively stationary core 48. A conductive wire 49 connects the resistance coil 41 with the bimetallic means active position. The rod 60 is preferably made I of non-conductive material.

The main circuit for my present delayed-action switch device is as follows: binding post 26, bar 24, plate 43, nut 44, resistance coil 41, wire 49, bimetallic means 39, lever 34, wire 33, strip 32, strip 25, contact element l5, strip 29 and binding post 3|. This circuit is shown closed in Fig. 1 and broken in Figs. 2 and 6. 1

A shunt circuit within the foregoing circuit short-circuits the resistance coil 41. The shunt circuit is as follows: binding post 26, bar 24, plate 43, wire 42, heating coil 38, wire 4l,'bimetallic means 39, lever 34, wire 33, strip 32, strip 25, contact element I5, strip 29 and binding post 38.

The adjustability of the nut 44 along the coil 41 provides means to vary the resistance. The more the resistance, the greater the amount of current that finds its way through the heating element38 in a given period of time, and the faster the bimetallic means 39 is heated up. As the resistance 41 is decreased, a greater amount of current goes throughit and a correspondingly less amount goes through the heating element 33,

thus taking a longer period of time to heat the element 38.

In the operation of my present device, the arrangement shOWn in Fig. 6 is the permanently "01? position. In this position, the lever 34 is opposite the cup 40 so thatthere is no contact between such members, thereby breaking the circuit. When it is desired to turn the switch to an on position, the toggle lever id is snapped to the position shown in Fig. 2. In this position, the contact element i5 bridges the gap between the strips 24 and 30, so that the current can travel directly from the binding post 26 to the binding post 3!, without traversing the other elements hereinbefore described.

When it is desired to turn off the switch, it is snapped to the position shown in Fig. 1. This figure shows the initially o position. In this position, the electric current passes through the main and shunt circuits hereinbefore traced. When the bimetallic means 33 becomes sufiiciently heated, it bends down from the broken line position to the full line position shown in Fig. 6, thereby breaking the circuit. During the period that the bimetallic means is heating up sufiiciently to bend down, there is an interval of time in which the circuit is still closed. Then at the end of such period of time, the circuit is broken.

To break the circuit immediately, the rod 69 is pushed inwardly against the action of the spring 6!. The element 39 is thereby bent down mechanically to the full line position of Fig. 6, thus breaking the circuit.

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as the preferred embodiment of my invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modifications without departing from the spirit and. scope of my invention. For instance, other mechanical actuating means may be employed for moving contact element K. I, therefore, do

4 not wish to restrict myself to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 A delayed-action switch comprising a housing having spaced dielectric walls, two spaced fixed contacts carried by one of said walls, a connection terminal for one of said contacts, a fixed contact on the other wall, a connection terminal for the latter contact, a toggle-operated bridging contact for bridging between the last mentioned contact and either of the two spaced contacts, a plate conductor connected to one of said contacts, a thermal-controlled element electrically connected to the plate conductor, a spring urged lever electrically connected to another of said contacts and adapted for mechanical engagement by the bridging contact and electrical engagement with the third fixed contact and an end formed on the thermal-controlled element for abutting engagement with said lever when the mentioned element is relatively unheated to carry electric current from one terminal to the other in a path which includes the three contacts, the bridging contact, the plate conductor,

the thermal-controlled element, and said lever, said end, upon heating of said element, being adapted to disengage itself from the lever to break thementioned circuit path.

2. A delayed-action switch comprising a housing having spaced dielectric walls, two spaced fixed contacts carried by one of said walls, a connection terminal for one of said contacts, a fixed contact on the other wall, a connection terminal for the latter contact, a toggle-operated bridging contact for bridging between the last mentioned contact and either of the two spaced contacts, a; plate conductor connected to one of said contacts, a thermal-controlled element electrically connected to the plate conductor, a spring urged lever electrically connected to another of said contacts and adapted for mechanical engagement by the bridging contact and electrical engagement'with the third fixed contact, an end formed on the thermal-controlled element for abutting engagement with said leverwhen the mentioned element is relatively unheated to carry electric current from one terminal to the other in a path which includes the three contacts, the bridging contact, the plate conductor, the thermal-controlled element, and said lever, said end, upon heating of said element, being adapted to disengage itself from the lever to break the mentioned circuit path, and manually operated means for efiecting the mentioned disengagement of the lever and the thermal-operated element.

3. A delayed-action switch comprising a housing having spaced dielectric walls, two spaced fixed contacts carried by one of said walls, a connection terminal for one of said contacts, a fixed contact on the other wall, a connection terminal for the latter contact, a toggle-operated bridging contact for-bridging between the last mentioned contact and either of the two spaced contacts, a plate conductor connected to one of said contacts, a thermal-controlled element electrically connected to the plate conductor, a spring urged lever electrically connected to another, of said contacts and adapted for mechanical engagement by the bridging contact and electrical engagement with the third fixed contact, an end formed on the thermal-controlled element for abutting engagement with said lever when the mentioned element is relatively unheated to carry electric current from one terminal to the other in a path which includes the three contacts, the bridging contact, the plate conductor, the thermal-controlled element, and said lever, said end, upon heating of said element, being adapted to disengage itself from the lever to break the mentioned circuit path, and manually operated means for effecting the mentioned disengagement of the lever and the thermal-operated element, said latter means comprising a normally retracted member adapted to be manually moved to engage the thermal-controlled member to move the same out of electrical engagement with the mentioned lever.

4. In a delayed-action switch, two substantially coplanar fixed contacts, a terminal for one of the contacts, a third fixed contact in opposed relation to the coplanar contacts, a terminal for the third contact, a, toggle-operated bridging contact for electrically connecting the third contact and the coplanar contacts, selectively, a spring-urged pivoted member electrically connected to the contact not having a terminal, and a thermal-controlled element electrically connected to the terminal-provided contact of the coplanar contacts and adapted to electrically engage the pivoted member to complete an electric circuit which follows a path through the terminal-provided coplanar contact, the thermalcontrolled element, the pivoted member, the other coplanar contact, the bridging contact and the third contact.

5. In a delayed-action switch, two substantially coplanar fixed contacts, a terminal for one of the contacts, a third fixed contact in opposed relation to the coplanar contacts, a terminal for the third contact, a toggle-operated bridging contact for electrically connecting the third contact and the coplanar contacts, selectively, a spring-urged pivoted member electrically connected to the contact not having a terminal, and a thermalcontrolled element electrically connected to the terminal-provided contact of the coplanar contacts and adapted to electrically engage the pivoted member to complete an electric circuit which follows a path through the terminal-pro- Vlded coplanar contact, the thermal-controlledv element, the pivoted member, the other coplanar contact, the bridging contact and the third contact, said thermal-controlled element being adapted, after a time interval, to be deflected from its normal position and to electrically disengage itself from the pivoted member to break the mentioned circuit.

6. In a delayed-action switch, two substantially coplanar fixed contacts, a terminal for one of the contacts, a third fixed contact in opposed relation to the coplanar contacts, a terminal for the third contact, a toggle-operated bridging contact for electrically connecting the third contact and the coplanar contacts, selectively, a springurged pivoted member electrically connected to the contact not having a terminal, and a thermal-controlled element electrically connected to the terminal-provided contact of the coplanar contacts and adapted to electrically engage the pivoted member to complete an electric circuit which follows a path through the terminal-provided coplanar contact, the thermal-controlled element, the pivoted member, the other coplanar contact, the bridging contact and the third contact, said thermal-controlled element being adapted, after a time interval, to be deflected from its normal position and to electrically disengage itself from the pivoted member to break the mentioned circuit, said thermal-controlled element having an arcuate end affording a nonengaging arcuate path for the pivoted member upon deflection of the thermal-controlled element.

GEORGE w. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,328,477 Baker Jan. 20, 1920 1,328,478 Baker Jan. 20, 1920 1,328,479 Baker Jan. 20, 1920 1,722,768 Schnetzler July 30, 1929 1,728,551 Jennings Sept. 17, 1929 2,123,063 Peters July 5, 1938 2,215,788 Hamilton et a1. Sept. 24, 1940 

